A certain lawyer or group of lawyers is trolling Iowa farmers for a class action lawsuit against a seed/biotech company. They are alleging that this company released corn seed into the American seed corn market that wasn’t approved for export to China. When traces of the offending corn turned up in samples taken from incoming American feed grain shipments at the Chinese ports the Chinese officials refused entry of the shipments into the country. The trolls further contend that this refusal resulted in a collapsing market price for corn in America. They are suing for a substantial amount of money.

But …….

Given the fact that it is an established practice of Chinese importers to cancel sales after markets decline only to buy new contracts at the new lower price any and all actions made by these same offices are suspect at best. Oftentimes these Chinese cancellations are announced while markets are open. Markets dominated by high frequency trading algorithmic computers programed to react to any and all market associated “headlines” read off of newswires services at lightning fast reaction speeds. Helping drive prices further in the desired direction.

China is sitting on six billion bushels of their own corn. Roughly half of what we can produce annually on a consistent basis. They are one of America’s newest and smallest corn clients. They are where soybeans originated. They learned long ago how hard on the soil growing soybeans are. Add in the fact that corn yields three to four times as many tons per acre and you have a good argument to grow corn at home and import the beans. Pound for pound you’re importing four times as many acres on the same ship. Whether they ever will become a major customer for America’s corn farmer is doubtful for these very basic economic reasons. I think markets are astute enough to keep that in account.

The main reason the feed grain markets have collapsed is none other than our very own EPA’s ethanol debacle. When Congress orders 18 billion gallons of ethanol be produced and blended into the country’s transportation fuels the market sits straight up and takes note. When the market takes note every farmer in the world takes note, production is stimulated. When Alabama’s EPA director says it taint happening the markets also respond, in an equal and opposite direction. Trust me, farmers took note. Dropping Navigable from Congress’s Clean Water Act is not enough of a distraction to make producers forget what EPA’s ethanol debacle has done to feed grain markets.

Brics or Cirbs? How about brick curbs. Also known as old world. China may have mixed more cement in the last decade than America did in the last century but that’s because we didn’t really get started on the cement until Ike ribboned the lower forty eight with Hitler’s highways. Cement was the earthly anchor as a sea faring race found new sees to sale. Runways for the stars. Space for hire, own or to let. Up the payloads. Look out below.

As the old world goes China is the oldest of the old. Not that India is not impressive as an aged society. But India seems a little more homogenized than China. China’s still singular at least in thought and direction even as they expand into neighboring counties like Mongolia and Tibet. Though both countries’ histories blend well with “the main land”.

Russia’s old world with a reputation of still being a little wild, a little rogue, a little rushing to be done and back relaxed already. Still Russia’s old world. Potatoes, vodka. America never had a potato state until the revolution in Russia sent millions of refugees out, many settling in one of our last states to be settled and similar in clime to the motherland, Idaho.

Brazil’s old world even though they’re the latest to come on line of the Brics. Chinese demand for grain woke this ancient giant up and what a wake up call they had. From sleepy forest to river to river grain production like Iowa. Almost overnight. Knowing the Portuguese they saw it coming way back when they cut the deal with Spain and said, “You can have the rest, we don’ need no stinkin’ mountains!”

One thing the Brics all have in common is they can all grow a lot of grain. Once they’ve employed the modern methods and ramp up their own output these often hungry nations can help feed the world at large. China’s cement on Brazil’s highways. Russia’s oil in China’s farm machinery. India’s cotton on everyone’s backs. All being orchestrated precisely by America’s GPS system. Abundance.

Two hits. Views. I get more likes from my poems than I do from my regular blogging. For some reason I don’t get anymore views. Does that mean folks are liking but not reading? If that’s the case this might be the write thing to do. Adding my two “sents” every week or so to remind myself from the future what I’m working on today. Providing I can find my way back.

I was looking at some pictures today that the stay at gone mom found going through tubs of old papers from the last twenty five or more years. They were shots of older projects I had almost forgotten I’d done. Not to mention old enterprises I’d long since moved on from. Back then I didn’t blog. I never had a journal. I would (and still do) write timely things that needed noted down on a calender. If the day couldn’t be condensed down into one little calender square I’d(‘ll) use a neighboring square of no significance.

For a while I thought this was as good a place for such things but have lost enough in cyber space to know better now. If it’s important it gets a calender square or two. An in real life back up. Also known as two chances to loose it. Which I can and do. That’s where here may prove as good or better. If you tell one other person it’s no longer a secret. Once a secret’s out it’s out. I’ve never heard of a rumor getting lost. By adding a “sent” or two the secret becomes rumor.